Heidi is 1!

What can you say when a year flies by, and your first-born has their first birthday? It has gone so fast, and been such a blast! I don't think Matt or I knew how much we would enjoy parenthood. We knew we'd like it, but man! Now, I know you experienced parents out there will say, "Wait for this year... now the discipline starts!"

Yeah, I guess so. But my sister-in-law was right when she said, "I always thought the stage they were in was my favorite. Then the next stage would come and I'd think, 'No, THIS is my favorite!'". She was definitely right. Heidi is more and more fun each day. We are so blessed and thankful that God has given her to us for this year, and we look forward to many more years of watching her grow.

What a sweetie! And I personally think she is a real smarty, because obviously (by the video below) she knows it's her birthday.

A Blog About Nothing

Okay, guys, it's been a while since I've contributed to this thing and it's about time we had a non-Heidi-related post. Her birthday is coming up next weekend, so I'm sure there will be one soon...not to worry.

For those of you who don't know, Darcie and I are huge Seinfeld fans. Maybe too huge. We were given a Seinfeld Scene It game for Christmas and we haven't lost a game yet. Ironically, neither of us really watched it when we were growing up, but we both got hooked on the show after we got married. I love watching it because it is arguably the best television comedy of all time mostly because it makes fun of what it means to be a self-absorbed, egotistical, and insensitive human being (something we can all identify with, right?). Plus, the episodes are only 22 minutes long . . . perfect for watching while you eat dinner!

Anyway, we just got done watching all 9 seasons a few weeks ago and as we were watching, we kept a little note of which episodes were our favorite and we are happy to announce our very own top ten list of Seinfeld episodes! Why you would read this far already, I have no idea - but since you have, I guess we should post our list. Here goes!

[All episode recaps are from tv.com]

10. The Junior Mint (season 4, episode 20): Jerry has a date with a woman whose name he has forgotten. Elaine visits an old boyfriend who's in the hospital for an operation; he was once fat, thin she's interested again. Kramer gets an opportunity to witness the operation and he drags Jerry along, while watching they have an accident with a "Junior Mint."
9. The Face Painter (season 6, episode 23): George and his girlfriend discuss toilet paper and he is in love. Elaine's boyfriend paints his face and his behavior at a hockey game disturbs Jerry, Elaine and a passing priest. A monkey throws a banana peel at Kramer, when he throws it back, the monkey becomes depressed and the zoo demands an apology.
8. The Little Kicks (season 8, episode 4): "Sweet fancy Moses" exclaims George when he sees Elaine dance at a party she's holding for her employees. Jerry gets 2 tickets to a premiere of a film. Jerry and Kramer attend the film with Brody, who begins to make a bootleg tape. Elaine finds out the truth about her dancing after she tapes herself. Elaine's dance becomes a big hit on the streets of New York.
7. The Serenity Now (season 9, episode 3): George gets roped into selling computers with his father, who is using a strange relaxation method to control his blood pressure. Kramer has some trouble with the "neighborhood children" when he remodels the front of his apartment. Jerry's latest girlfriend helps him get in touch with his emotions. Meanwhile, Elaine's invitation to a bar mitzvah ends up being more than she bargained for.
6. The Pick (season 4, episode 13): Elaine is humiliated when she accidentally shows a bit too much on her Christmas card photo. Jerry has a date with the model from the plane, she later dumps Jerry because of "The Pick." Kramer goes to Calvin Klein to complain about "The Ocean," a fragrance they stole from him.
5. The Burning (season 9, episode 16): George devises a new plan to end every conversation on a "high note" and "leave them wanting more". Kramer and Mickey take jobs acting out diseases for medical students. Elaine discovers that Puddy is religious, and becomes angry when she learns he doesn't care about her soul. Meanwhile, Jerry is intrigued when he learns that his current girlfriend has a secret "tractor story" she hasn't told him.
4. The Heart Attack (season 2, episode 8): George thinks he's had a heart attack. The doctor tells him otherwise, but he might want to get his tonsils and adenoids removed. Elaine is interested in the doctor and he is interested in her tongue. George not wanting to deal with the cost and the procedure decides to take Kramer's advice of going to see a naturalist, which only makes the situation worse.
3. The Marine Biologist (season 5, episode 14): Jerry meets an old college classmate who asked about George, whom Jerry says is now a "marine biologist." An infuriated Russian writer tosses an electronic organizer belonging to Elaine out of a limousine that hits a passerby on the head. Kramer struggles with his golf swing and sand.
2. The Strike [The Festivus] (season 9, episode 10): Kramer announces that after 12 years, he's going back to work. Jerry meets an attractive woman at a party, but when he later tries to date her, she doesn't look nearly as good. Elaine's use of a fake phone number backfires. George tries to get away with giving away fake donation cards as Christmas gifts at work, and much to his chagrin, his father decides to revive Festivus, a unique holiday he'd invented years earlier.
1. The Opposite (season 5, episode 22): George comes to the realization that he should try to do the opposite of everything, so he does. Things begin to be unlucky for Elaine after she buys a box of "Jujyfruits." Kramer appears on Regis & Kathie Lee to promote his coffee table book. Rachel wants to break up with Jerry and he readily agrees, because his luck has been "even Steven."

So there you go! Not a bad way to waste your time, was it? For a show that was about 'nothing' and had a motto of "no hugging, no learning," it turned out to be pretty good. If you think you can beat us at Seinfeld Scene It - let us know. We need to know that someone else out there has a more unhealthy knowledge of this show than we do!

A Family Fourth

Happy post-4th of July! We had a great time at the Dodge Family Reunion over the 4th, with all 4 Dodge kids, plus their 5 kids, making a grand total of lots of fun.

Ages 6 weeks, 6 months, 11 months, 3 years, almost 4... and the rest of us were older than that. :-)
We took the older girls to the Omni to see "Dolphins," complete with stuffed-animal dolphins provided by DeeDee (Darcie's mom), worked on sheetrock in the playhouse in the backyard, put in a French drain in the front yard, played sibling trivia (and had a walk down memory lane), watched movies, played games, and had a blast!We were even able to nail everyone down for a huge family photo. Darcie's sister-in-law took care of ordering matching t-shirts for everyone, so we were very coordinated. Matt's parents were able to come out on the 4th as well and join us for burgers, hot dogs, and maybe a little visit with Heidi too. (Thanks Lantzes, for taking the family photo with your nice camera!) Rick, Dottie and Doug Jones came for the weekend too and brought lots of yummy snacks. :-)
I'll admit that in our family, we're not all alike (some are Dr. Pepper lovers, some Diet Coke... you know), but when we get together, we sure have a great time. What a blessing to be in a family that enjoys being with one another, and a double blessing that we were all able to be there.

Thanks DeeDee and Grandpa for all your work getting it ready for us to come. We love you!

Vacation Catch-Up

Here it is! The long overdue vacation update. We had a whirlwind May: Forge graduation, Darcie's best friend got married, then we headed off for vacation and Heidi's first airplane ride.

The highlights: Danielle's wedding was beautiful. It was an outdoor wedding at a vineyard, and we all got to go, including all of Heidi's grandparents.

We celebrated Mother's Day the next day at the Dodge's, then on Monday morning we headed to Utah for 4-5 days at a lakehouse there in Park City. (Thanks, Jenny and fam!) It was a beautiful cabin, with an even more beautiful view, and the weather was nice. We had a rough night the first night, as Heidi stayed up all night crying... but after a phone call to Aunt (Nurse) Jodie, a visit to a local clinic, and a little baby Benadryl for a sore throat, the vacation greatly improved. :-)


On Wednesday, we spent the day with Doug, Deborah, Molly & Meredith at the outlet mall and at the cabin. On our way out of town, we stopped by to see their house (much remodeled). They have a great place with a fantastic backyard!

We then headed to Sedona, AZ to visit Heidi's great-grandfather. We spent the weekend visiting with him, and Heidi's great aunt and uncle.


Great Gramps loved showing her off at church and in the community where he lives. It was a real treat to have almost all of the Gardner family together!


We got to take a day off (leaving Heidi with grandparents) and sneak away to visit the Grand Canyon, as Darcie had never seen it before. What a place. How can you describe it?

We were so glad we could make the trip to Arizona to see Gramps and have four generations there together: Father, Daughter, Father, Daughter. What a precious time!

Heidi was a real trooper, and she continues to be a really great traveler. She slept and played on all 3 plane flights, and put up with all the car rides to and from airports, relatives houses and dinner outings. We really are blessed with a very sweet little girl. We can't believe that in about a month, she'll be one year old!

Projects and projects

We still owe an update on the front yard that our Forge students helped lay sod for - they'd be happy to see the result. We'll get pictures up of that soon, along with our long-awaited vacation pics from Utah and Arizona. (there might be a few of Heidi in there for her fans)

Meanwhile, here's what I've been doing in my "spare time" (Darcie) - during naps, with Heidi sitting by watching in the stroller, etc. The laundry room of our rent house needed some love. It's out on the carport so it already felt like it wasn't a real part of the house, but in addition to that, the previous owners had never even finished it out with painted trim or flooring.

I have to admit, I think it looks pretty nice. I love projects like this. And Matt loves it even more when I start and finish something in a one-week period. :-)

More updates coming soon!

Heidi likes it!

Heidi likes being on vacation. :)

The Mother of All Updates

It's been almost a month since we've posted, so we're due for some news and a whole lotta pics. So, hang on to your hats, folks.

Heidi is at a really fun stage where she likes to play, talk (babble) and grab for anything in reach, so there have been lots of fun times with Daddy lately. Matt likes to read her stories - he had a dream that her first word was "theology", so we're starting young and reading some really tough texts like Hop on Pop and a cloth book with zippers and snaps in it. "Theology" is right around the corner, we just know it.

Last week, we took our last trip with the Forge students before their graduation. We went down to Crier Creek near Houston. Matt enjoyed a last hoorah with his students, while Darcie entertained Heidi on the campgrounds and introduced her to her first outdoor water extravaganza at the splash pad. She's perfectly content with a bucket of water in her lap... until she splashes all the water out and wants some more. Careful Heidi, I think your midriff is showing!

Saturday also marked the graduation of our 4th group of Forge students. It was a busy, but fun weekend, honoring the students and sending them off to the next chapter in their lives. Matt also had a great reunion of former Forgies at the graduation. It's really neat how much the Lord impacts students' lives through the Forge, so much so that they want to return each year for graduation to welcome the most recent students into the world of Forge alumni.

And, for those of you who are not satisfied with a blog entry without a video, this one's for you...